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A seven-hour standoff that began when three Lake City police officers were shot is over.

But despite efforts to get a man barricaded inside the home to come out, officers found him dead by his own hand when they breached the door about 8:30 p.m.

"We had hoped this would have ended peacefully, but the suspect made the decision," said Columbia County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Ed Seifert.

The three police officers were shot Friday afternoon by a rifle-wielding man while apparently trying to serve or enforce an injunction for protection are hospitalized in good condition.

Two officers were shot in the leg, while the third was shot in the arm, City Manager Wendell Johnson said he was told by Police Chief Argatha Gilmore.

The attack occurred about 1:40 p.m. after officers arrived outside the one-story home on Northwest Irma Avenue, said. The unidentified gunman remained barricaded in the home, which was surrounded by dozens of officers and deputies.

Johnson said the chief told him the gunman was distraught over a custody case discussed during a court hearing Friday morning. The man was seen wearing camouflage and carrying multiple firearms as he entered the home of his estranged wife that afternoon, causing a neighbor to contact police, Johnson said.

Johnson said the officers went to the home apparently to service or enforce an injunction for protection that a judge had issued against the man.

The man came outside the home and shot the officers, Johnson said. Johnson identified the wounded as Sgt. Jason Byrd and investigator David Greear, both 12-year veterans of the agency, and six-year Officer Mitchell Cline.

The officers were flown to Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where a spokeswoman said they were in good condition. Johnson said the chief left the officers' sides in the late afternoon after visiting them at the hospital.

"They apparently are going to be just fine," Johnson said.

Seifert didn't have details on the the nature of the injunction, which is a restraining order used in domestic violence cases. But he said the gunman's last name was Custer, and he was born in 1984. And he said they discovered him dead only after they sent an armored Bobcat to the house around 8:30 p.m.

Columbia County property records showed the home was owned by Jesse and Natalie Custer, and court records confirmed they were recently divorced.

"We did find the suspect in the home deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," Seifert said. "Officers did not enter the home. We used a tactical vehicle."

Other than the gunshot injuries to the Lake City officers, no one else was injured, Seifert said. Neighbors who had been evacuated earlier have returned home.

The home is in a residential neighborhood several blocks north of U.S. 90 near downtown, and residents had been warned to stay out of the area.

Standoff ends after 3 Lake City police officers shot by rifle-wielding man- By